ANFIELD — English Premier Football League giants Liverpool signed England midfielder Adam Lallana from Southampton on a long-term deal yesterday, reuniting the 26-year-old with his former clubmate Rickie Lambert at Anfield.
No transfer fee was announced, but British media estimated Liverpool paid around $42,54 million for Lallana, part of the England team who failed to progress to the second round of the World Cup in Brazil last month.
“I’m over the moon for it to be sorted,” Lallana told the club website (www.liverpoolfc.com) after passing a medical at Melwood.
“I still can’t quite believe it. I just can’t wait to get started in pre-season and work with the team.”
The captain’s departure is a further blow to Southampton, who lost England defender Luke Shaw to Manchester United on Friday for a reported 30 million pounds and manager Mauricio Pochettino to Tottenham Hotspur in May.
“Lambert is up here already and he has been telling me all about it. It’s great that I can continue my career with him as well,” Lallana said.
“I’ve spent the last four or five years with him. We’ve had great careers at Southampton and achieved something special, but we’re both thoroughly looking forward to the new challenge. It’s Rickie’s boyhood club and a club I can’t wait to be a part of.”
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Liverpool, who finished runners-up to Manchester City last season, also last month agreed in principle to bring in promising German midfielder Emre Can from Bayer Leverkusen.
Lallana made 235 league appearances for Southampton, scoring 48 goals, and was instrumental in helping the south coast club to an eighth-place finish last term with a record 56 points.
His form led to an England call-up, and he appeared in all three of England’s World Cup matches, starting the goalless draw against Costa Rica.
“I’m grateful that Southampton accepted the offer in the end and granted my wish to play at such a fantastic football club, in Champions League football and competing for Premier League titles,” he said.
Manager Brendan Rodgers said Liverpool had secured the service of one of the Premier League’s top talents in signing Lallana.
“What is apparent about Adam is that his character is on a par with his talent.
“He is an exceptional young man and someone who has a love for the game — and, most importantly, a desire to progress and improve,” he said.
“We have seen, over the past two seasons in the Barclays Premier League, he has a tactical awareness to adapt to what is required of him and to put the team above his personal ambitions.
“He has leadership skills and personal qualities that make him a special commodity and I am delighted we have acted decisively to make sure he is wearing a Liverpool shirt next season,” he added.
Premier League side Chelsea yesterday bid farewell to Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o whose contract is now at an end.
The move comes after Chelsea announced that defender Ashley Cole, a player who contributed enormously to the highly successfully period in the history of the club in which they were crowned champions of Europe and won the League and Cup double for the first time.
Cole, whose contract came to an end on Sunday, was a Chelsea player for eight seasons, making 338 appearances, 13 of those as a substitute, and finding the net seven times.
Eto’o spent one season at Stamford Bridge and true to his illustrious career as one of the great strikers in world football, provided some of the most memorable moments of 2013/14 with his goals, often important opening strikes including in big games against Arsenal and Tottenham, and against Manchester United when he became just the third Chelsea player to score a hat-track against the Old Trafford outfit.
The Cameroon captain joined Chelsea on a one-year deal from Anzhi Makhachkala last August, making his debut at Everton and scoring his first Chelsea goal in a 4-1 win over Cardiff City, taking an Eden Hazard pass in his stride, jinking past Steven Caulker and firing low past David Marshall.
Eto’o leaves Stamford Bridge having made 26 starts for the Blues, as well as nine appearances as a substitute.
He scored 12 goals during his time in West London. — Reuters
